October 15th, 1999
Powerlogix has joined the ranks of companies offering a 500 MHz upgrade card for PCI based PowerMacs. The new card becomes the high end of Powerlogix's product line and comes in at a very attractive price point. According to Powerlogix: PowerLogix today announced the shipment of new models of the award-winning line of PowerForce G3 processor upgrades. Following IBM's announcement of their 500MHz PowerPC 750 (G3) chip, the PowerForce G3 500MHz is now the fastest processor available for Power Macintosh. The PowerForce G3 500 includes 1 Mb of backside cache rated at 250MHz. Like the previously announced 466MHz chip from IBM, the 500MHz model will also take advantage of the 10x bus multiplier which will allow owners of older PCI-based PowerMacs with slower bus speeds to run at faster clock speeds. The PowerForce G3 cards, given the honor of "Editor's Choice" by MacWorld Magazine, can be used to upgrade the 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500, and 9600 models from Apple as well as Power Computing clones and the S900 and J700 from Umax. The PowerForce G3 500MHz ZIF is compatible with all PowerMac G3s, including the new "Blue & White" G3s as well as the G3 "All-in-One", the G3 500 brings Macintosh performance to levels unavailable from Apple or any other vendor. "Even though all eyes have been directed to the G4 chip and Apple's recent announcement of the G4 machines, quantities on the higher end G4 models will be severly constrained and high end G4 upgrade cards will not hit the market until early next year," said Robin Sharp, Director of Marketing for PowerLogix R&D, Inc. "We are very excited about our upcoming G4 processor upgrades but, unless the user has the software that will take advantage of the Altivec (Velocity Engine) technology, the G3 chips are just as fast and significantly cheaper." The two new 500MHz PowerForce G3 models replace the existing PowerForce G3 466 and PowerForce G3 ZIF 466 models. Powerlogix will be shipping the PowerForce G3 on Monday, October 15th. The product is priced at US$799. Youcan find more information on the PowerForce G3 at the company's web site. The ZIF 500 will be available in "two weeks," although a specific date has not been given. This card will ship at US$749. You can find more information on this product line at the comapny's web site too, though Powerlogix has not yet added information on the 500 MHz card.
[9:00 AM] Powerlogix Adds 500 MHz G3 Upgrade Card To Product Line